Global media release: bees in good health

New large-scale study COLOSS shows:
European bees are at their best
health level in years as overwintering losses of colonies
sink to record lowAugust
11, 2014

Monheim,– European bees are
much healthier than many recent media publications appear to
suggest. New field data from nearly 400,000 bee colonies
from 21 countries in Europe and the Mediterranean show that
overwintering losses of honey bee colonies – an important
indicator of general bee health – were at their lowest
level in years in 2013/2014.

“It is great to see that
our bees have come out of the 2013/2014 winter in the best
shape for many years,” says Dr. Christian Maus, Global
Pollinator Safety Manager at Bayer CropScience. “These
results are also very telling since the data relate to a
season during which neonicotinoid-based crop protection
products were still in common use throughout Europe. This
offers further evidence that these important components in
the toolbox of farmers do not impact the survival of
honeybee colonies during overwintering under real-life field
conditions,” Maus adds.

The non-profit honey bee
research association COLOSS http://www.coloss.org/%3E (prevention of
honey bee COlony LOSSes), which comprises more than 360
scientific professionals from 60 countries, has published
new data http://www.coloss.org/announcements/losses-of-honey-bee-colonies-over-the-2013-14-winter
showing that the overall mortality rate of bee colonies in
the 2013/2014 winter was on average 9 percent – losses
below 10 percent are considered to be normal. This compares
with loss rates of up to 37 percent that were recorded from
individual countries in previous years.

Mite
infestations impact overwintering

In winter,
honey bees are generally not active outside the hive; they
are very busy inside taking steps to ensure the colony's
survival. They continue to access stored food – honey and
pollen – and generate heat within the hive to protect the
colony. If adequate provisions have not been made during the
summer and fall, e.g. by the beekeeper, then a colony may
not survive the winter season because of starvation.

Another major factor affecting honey bee colonies in the
winter is Varroa mite infestation, often linked with
secondary infestations by viruses. Adult winter bees that
were infested with Varroa as immature bees within the brood
cells do not fully develop the physiological characteristics
of a long-lived winter bee. This makes them less likely to
withstand the grueling environmental stressors associated
with winter conditions and survive until the spring.

The
coordinator of the COLOSS Working Group, Dr. Romée van der
Zee from the Dutch Centre for Bee Research, explains, “The
contributions of many factors which are correlated to colony
losses seem to be very dependent on weather conditions.
Colonies built their brood nests late because of the
relatively cold spring in 2013. This may have decreased the
number of reproductive cycles of the parasitic Varroa mite,
producing fewer mites. Good weather in the summer then
provided excellent foraging
opportunities.”

Neonicotinoids do not cause harm
to bee health in proper farming
practice

Restrictions on neonicotinoids came
into force in Europe in December 2013 as a result of the
European Commission´s concerns, that this group of crop
protection products, which is used to control pests that
damage field crops such as maize and oilseed rape, might
pose a risk to bees. However, as many scientific studies,
field monitoring data and risk assessments have shown,
neonicotinoids do not cause harm to bee colonies under
real-life field conditions, when they are used responsibly
and properly, according to label instructions.

“It
seems that everyone is looking for just one culprit for
reduced bee health and colony losses, but you can't point
the finger of blame at a single factor. Bees are facing
multiple challenges around pests and pathogens, loss of
foraging habitat and poor farming and beekeeping practices.
Pollination matters to agriculture, hence safeguarding the
health of bees is a shared responsibility of all the
partners involved: farmers, beekeepers and industry,” says
Annette Schürmann, Head of the Bayer Bee Care Center http://beecare.bayer.com/home.

This
is underscored by a landmark study http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1786/20140558.abstract
published in May 2014 in the Proceedings of the Royal
Society. A group of international scientists led by
Professor Charles Godfray and Professor Angela McLean,
University of Oxford, analyzed the natural science evidence
base relevant to neonicotinoid insecticides and insect
pollinators. They concluded that "there is poor geographical
correlation between neonicotinoid use and honeybee decline".

Australia and New Zealand: bee industry in good
shape

This is supported by findings outside
Europe. A parliamentary report http://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-nz/50DBSCH_SCR56864_1/34a0a5f2526c4db590c2b0330083d8af2313b150
on bee health published by the Primary Production Committee
in New Zealand in July 2014 confirms, “There is currently
no evidence of the [Colony Collapse] disorder in New
Zealand, although these pesticides [neonicotinoids] are
commonly used here as a seed dressing and as foliar sprays.
We heard that when anecdotal evidence of losses is
investigated, the causes seem to be mainly Varroa or
starvation rather than pesticides.” The report notes that
honey production and exports are rising.

The regulatory
authorities in Australia also investigated the potential
effect of neonicotinoid seed treatments on bee health. Their
report “Neonicotinoids and the health of honey bees in
Australia http://archive.apvma.gov.au/news_media/chemicals/bee_and_neonicotinoids.php
,” published in March 2014 confirms that the introduction
of neonicotinoids in Australia has brought a number of
benefits such as healthy crops and more productivity, noting
also that they are considerably more favorable for humans
(and other mammals) than the older products they have
replaced.

About Bayer
CropScienceBayer is a global enterprise with
core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture
and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, the subgroup of
Bayer AG responsible for the agricultural business, has
annual sales of EUR 8,819 million (2013) and is one of the
world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the
areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest
control. The company offers an outstanding range of products
including high value seeds, innovative crop protection
solutions based on chemical and biological modes of action
as well as an extensive service backup for modern,
sustainable agriculture. In the area of non-agricultural
applications, Bayer CropScience has a broad portfolio of
products and services to control pests from home and garden
to forestry applications. The company has a global workforce
of 22,400 and is represented in more than 120 countries.
This and further news is available at: http://www.cropscience.bayer.com/en/Media.aspx

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